Water not only helps to quench your child’s thirst, but also is good for their teeth. It keeps their mouth clean, but the flouride in water provides structurally stronger, more decay-resistant teeth.
Drinking juice, soda or sports drinks may help you wash down your dinner, but they can leave unwanted sugar behind on your teeth, according American Dental Association. Saliva is your mouth’s first defense against tooth decay. It washes away leftover food, helps you swallow with ease and keeps your teeth strong by washing them with calcium, phosphate and fluoride.
“It’s critical to have fluoride in the water through the age of 14,” says Cynthia Sherwood, D.D.S., a spokesperson for the Academy of General Dentistry. “Fluoride strengthens permanent teeth that are forming under the gum,” says Sherwood. (By the time teeth have erupted, fluoride’s primary job of strengthening teeth from the inside out is over.)
Generally, if your tap water comes from a public water supply, it’s adequately fluoridated. Sherwood says. If you have well water, drink primarily bottled water that’s not fluoridated or have a water filter on your kitchen faucet, which can remove heavy metals and fluoride from public water. Talk with your pediatrician or your child’s dentist about having your child take a daily fluoride supplement or fluoride combination multivitamin. Fluoride supplements are available in liquid form for infants and toddlers and chewable tablets for older kids.
Drinking water with fluoride (called “nature’s cavity fighter”) is one of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do to help prevent cavities.
This story was written by Sandra Gordon
